Cotton buds may damage your hearing

But manually removing earwax could actually damage a person's hearing, according to new guidelines by experts in the US.

Researchers at the American Academy of Otolaryngology noted in their updated guidelines on Tuesday that inserting foreign instruments into the ear canal, such as cotton buds, can cause a variety of hearing issues and actually increase cerumen production.

Moreover, manually cleaning the ears also increases the chances of piercing the eardrum, dislocating delicate bones and causing infection.

Furthermore, there's an added danger of impaction, which blocks the ear canal and can lead to pain, itching, feeling of fullness, ringing or tinnitus, hearing loss or a discharge or an unpleasant odour.

Dr Seth Schwartz, chair of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, said: “Patients often think that they are preventing earwax from building up by cleaning out their ears with cotton swabs, paper clips, ear candles, or any number of unimaginable things that people put in their ears.